World Cup 2010: Hand of Heartbreak

It’s hard to say something tragic happened at a soccer game when nobody has died or been hurt… but today at the World Cup in South Africa, there is an exception. The tragedy was NOT that Ghana lost to Uruguay in a penalty shootout, and it’s NOT that Ghana’s striker Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty shot to win the game just before the shootout… it is because the rules of soccer allowed Uruguay to CHEAT and WIN.

Uruguay Handball

Uruguay Wins

Gyan's Grief

No Hands Allowed

Ghana Gone

No Hands Alllowed

No Hands Allowed

On the very last play of extra time, Dominic Adiyiah of Ghana headed a cross that was going into the net and Luis Suarez of Uruguay stopped it with his hands. Illegal!!! Luis is not the goalie so Ghana should get the goal… right? Wrong!

Ridiculous Rule

Uruguay Wins

The rules of soccer do not allow the referee to award Ghana the goal that would have put them in the lead 2-1 with only seconds remaining in the game. Instead the referee had to red card Luis for the deliberate handball in the penalty area, and then Ghana got to take a penalty shot to try and score the goal that should have been. Sure enough, Ghana’s best player Asamoah missed the penalty shot and the game continued into a penalty shootout.

The Cry of a Continent

Gyan's Grief

Asamoah should never have been put in the situation where the whole game relied on whether he could score on that penalty shot. Now that he missed it, he is going to be haunted for the rest of his life because of the chance he missed. When Ghana lost the game in the shootout, it made it even more painful and Asamoah broke down in tears… not to mention the rest of Africa.

Ghana Gone

Ghana Gone

The fact is that there are very few goals in the game of soccer. Some games end with only 1 or 2 goals. Every goal is so crucial to the final result. Ghana definitely was robbed of a goal that would have put them in the Semi-Finals. Now they are eliminated.